Who am I? The villain saviour!
by Rileythenub
Summary: We've heard how mighty heroes have conquered over the evil. Why not evil against evil? This is the story of how a villain delivered justice in his own way, to both the deserving and the undeserving. Read to find out more.
1. Chapter 1 The villain saviour

Rileythenub presents: Who am I? The villain saviour!

Chapter 1: The villain saviour

Bang! That was the only sound that mattered. That same sound reverberated off the stone walls of the dark chamber. It echoed for a while, longer than it should ever have. But why did it seem so normal here? What exactly was the cause? After a few moments however, the sound died off to be replaced by the deathly silence. It wasn't tranquil. No, it was something more. All of a sudden, laughter boomed out from the depths of the chamber, ripping away the silence like a hot knife through butter. This surreal laughter, why was it so mocking? "P-p-please! Don't kill me! I'm sorry, please just stop! Please!" a voice whimpered with outright fear. In a flash, it was drowned out by another bang...

"Video games. How frightfully boring." Demi thought to himself as he sat back in his chair. The protagonist of this story was finally done with his work. "Sometimes I wonder why I even do all this."

Demi, the protagonist of the story, was sitting in his "office" working on hacking a game called 'Final Fantasy'. Demi was built like the other teenagers of his age, perhaps a bit smaller but still considered pretty average for his size. What separated him from the majority however, was his incredible intellect. Demi was born a genius. He mastered the concept of algebra in an hour, even utilising it to solve problem questions that would stump even a high school student, all of it remarkably being done at the age of four. He could remember all the lines from an episode of a cartoon on television all in one viewing. He was also the head of the chess and mathematics clubs in school.

Demi yawned, stretching himself as he did so. He reached with his left hand to push the large amount of dark bluish hair covering his left eye away. Demi had always insisted that his hair colour was natural. No one believed him of course. He was well-liked, if only for his skills with hacking computers and winning prizes for the school. His peers were jealous of his achievements, often mocking him in the school hallways. Usually, Demi would stop to smugly correct the grammatical error the mockers made while they tried pitifully to insult and provoke him.

The teachers were no different. They were disgusted with Demi's complacency and arrogance. They suggested that," He was too arrogant for his own good. Let's see what happens to him when he fails one day." Demi paid no attention to all these, being accustomed to it over many years. Everybody regarded him and his talents as separate things. Whatever Demi did was credited instead to his talents, never to his own sincerity.

Demi came from a poor family. His parents were never at home, ever working hard to feed themselves. As such, he had learnt to be independent from a young age. He earned everything himself. His money was earned by offering game hacking services to his peers. He wasn't paid much but he had no choice. He did everything and almost anything his peers wanted him to do to the game. He was so good at hacking, he could take a sprite from the game, modify and edit its features and looks, and run it in the game without the game crashing. Half of the cheat codes in the game were created by him solely and he always thought it not to be so much of a deal. He thought of himself as a greater being, so much so it went to the extent of finding even video games to be boring.

Demi packed up his laptop and his other gadgets as he prepared to leave the principal's office. It was almost midnight and the school was closed. Thanks to his hacking abilities, he got past the digitized security of the school gates and main entrance with barely any effort. He also had control over all the surveillance cameras in the school with his laptop.

"What a bore." Demi said, yawning again as though what he did was typical of him and was done frequently. It was. Demi was constantly badgered by his peers to hack their games. Not just games, he was even told to use the principal's computer to steal the answers for upcoming tests. And that was part of his purpose for being in school at such a time.

Demi tucked his hands deeper into the pockets of his jacket as he made for his house in the snow of the town of St. Ivalice. His intellect could not help him here. There was darkness, safe for a few street lamps in the distance, their lights the only beacons for Demi. Those did little to increase visibility however, what with all the snow constantly falling. It was Demi's experience in the snow which actually led him through the gates of the school and to the lamp-filled street. The skies in St. Ivalice always seemed to be snowing. The only times it did not was during summer and late spring.

Demi felt strangely relaxed amidst the soft, cool wind blowing in his face and the pure, white snow. These elements though dull and mundane, expressed his feelings and desires. How he wanted to be pure and free, just like the snow. All his thirteen years of life, he'd been treated as a tool, uncared for and unloved, sometimes even hated. "How could they possibly be jealous of me? They have good lives, they have lovers, what do I have? I've been ridiculed and used, not even once appreciated, all for what? For survival? I want to be like them, free and leading a normal life. I'm the one that should be jealous!" he thought to himself while he walked.

After fifteen minutes of walking, Demi arrived in front of a small house. Everything about the house suggested that its inhabitants were extremely poor. From the cracked roof tiles to the moth-eaten curtains, all the way down to the overgrown weeds in the yard. Demi sighed deeply and walked up to the oaken door. The knob was coming out again and he made a mental note to replace it. He wasn't leaving the place anytime soon anyways. He slung his back over the nearest chair, cursing as its fragile back rest snapped off after the 'impact' between sling and wood. "Great, just great." He rolled his eyes, stepping carefully over the splintered wood. A few steps later took him to his bed (a mattress laid on the floor). The familiarity did little to put his troubled mind to rest. After brushing his teeth in the bathroom, he immediately collapsed on the bed and fell into the warm embrace of sleep.

...

The internal clock in Demi's head told him it was time to wake up. "What? I just fell asleep!" his mind screamed in outrage. He lay there for a few more seconds before groaning and pushing himself up. He felt as though he had not slept at all and his body ached in several places. "Sigh... I guess this is what you get for sleeping on such a thin mattress and staying up late for some measly amount of money." he thought as well. He checked his bedside clock and found that he woke up at the exact time that he had wanted himself to wake. "Sometimes, I amaze even myself." He then prepared for school in five minutes and left the house.

The sweater Demi wore whipped around him viciously with the wind, signalling the beginnings of a snowstorm. It seemed nothing good could ever happen in his life. One after another, everything was falling apart before him. The events of the past night had made sure of that. He fired off a curse as the wind intensified and he had to look down and pull his hood over his head. It was strange, the weather. It wasn't the time of the year for snowstorms considering winter had supposedly ended.

...

"Checkmate."Demi said nonchalantly to his opponent. He had won fifteen times in a row without even raising his eyes from a library book he had borrowed even once.

"H-how? How'd you do all that without looking up even once?" the other members of the chess club asked in unison.

"Simple," Demi smirked. "It's called skill, something you idiots don't have and will probably never get."

All the members stiffened at this and stared at each other with a look that said "Can I kill him?" Demi enjoyed taunting the other teenagers. It was a means for him to vent all his frustrations. It felt so good for him, dominating his opponents. Having done that, he was about to stand up and leave the chess club room when disaster struck.

A bright flash of light erupted from behind the wall, enveloping everyone and everything. "How the heck!" he yelled as the light washed over him with astonishing speed. Ironically, the light turned out to be darkness. Demi was immobilised, his body locked in place by the oppressive darkness. Was it the power of this, what was that term...ah, magic? Could it be something else? Could it be fear?

None of that mattered as a small light appeared in the distance. Demi tried to squint, but found he couldn't. Images leapt forth in a burst of colour from the light and what he saw blew his mind. They were everything about him. The images showed all his memories, what he had done, up till the part where the light engulfed him. Demi's mind screamed in agony as the images streamed, rampant through it, colliding with the ends and sending explosions of pain through him. He was sure of it... he was going to burst open with the pain. But as quickly as it started, it stopped. The screaming and screeching ended before Demi felt his body lurch forward, sending him tumbling through a tunnel of darkness which had materialised out of the sea of images. It drew out quickly and sent him sprawling forward onto...sand. What will happen next? Find out more in the next story.

A/N:

Hey ! This is Rileythenub with my first story. Your reviews are greatly appreciated and I hoped you enjoyed it. FFTA has greatly intrigued me and I have been inspired by a few here to write a fanfiction of this wonderful game. Long live Fanfiction! Please also PM me should you want your characters to make special appearances in my story. List the personality, job and race should you choose to submit a character. Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2 First Blood

Rileythenub presents: Who am I? The villain saviour!

Chapter 2: First blood

Brick-walled buildings met Demi's vision as he turned his body to take in the new world with his eyes. "Where is this place?" he muttered softly to himself. The buildings themselves looked odd, particularly because they seemed to be built into the sides of several small rocky hills. Beneath the sand was some sort of gravel, making it seem like Demi was sitting on a road. Little clumps of grass stood out in the sand together with the occasional flowers which Demi had never seen in his life. There was a florist back in St. Ivalice but he had never actually seen anything quite like those flowers. He crawled towards the flowers just as the sound of thumping feet could be heard in the distance.

"Out of the way! Out of the way! Move Kiddo! " a gruff voice shouted from the direction of the movement of feet.

Demi looked up, and scrambled out of the way hurriedly after he saw what was heading for him. And not a moment too soon, for the figure which was much larger than him almost broke all his bones if he had still been crawling slowly in awe. The figure was moving at a great speed, which strangely, hardly surprised Demi. What however, had surprised him was instead the figure's appearance.

A huge bird with yellow feathers tore through the road, pulling a cart with it. The bird was shaped physically like an ostrich. It did not seem capable of flight, but had probably the strength of a horse. It also made a strange warbling sound as it moved. The man on top of the cart, the one who had shouted at Demi, was directing the ostrich-like creature with his reins. Unfortunately, Demi could not see what else was on the cart due to the speed of movement.

After the bird and cart had turned the corner, a second cart appeared from the same place where the first had and was also being pulled by a large yellow bird. On it were strange lizard-like humanoids, brandishing what looked like swords and hissing angrily as they rode.

Demi was shocked. For the first time in months he was actually shocked. But who could blame him? Demi had never heard of lizard-like sentient beings ever before. In all the books he had read related to science, none of them had explained the existence of aliens on Earth. Maybe one or two of them had actually showed the discovery of alien civilisation, but never the aliens themselves. In a way, Demi was fascinated, but he was, at the same time afraid. And swords? It was the least of his expectations but he assumed that they were a far less technologically advanced race.

Demi knew he had to find out more about the aliens and the strange place he fell to. He stood up and brushed the sand from his clothes, at the same time noticing something different. He wasn't in his sweater anymore. What he found in its place was a black leather jacket, with a fur collar. "That's new. I wonder what the light did to my appearance." He gazed down at his body, but couldn't find any visible changes aside from his jacket and a new pair of blue jeans. His hair was still its deep blue colour and the texture of his facial skin didn't feel any different.

A few steps later took Demi in front of a window of a house. He stared at his own reflection in the glass. His eyes were still its reddish brown colour. Heaving a sigh of relief, he turned and ran towards the next corner.

The sound of clashing steel was heard as Demi turned the corner. A few human men, dressed in the same chainmail armour with blue capes and short swords, were fighting with the lizard men from before. From Demi's distance, he could make out that the aliens were generally larger than the humans, each standing at close to seven feet in height. They looked quite wide, their bodies rippling with muscle. Of course it was apparent that the aliens were also much stronger than the humans. One alien bore down with his sword, which seemed to be half as wide as Demi and as long as his height, and succeeded in bringing his opponent to his knees as the two weapons clashed.

The alien hissed in delight, its eyes slits and filled with cunning. It smashed its knee into the human's skull, dropping him effortlessly. The two other aliens both impaled their opponents and shoved their corpses roughly aside. Tiny stars flew from somewhere on the roof of a building towards the aliens and both caught the stars with not so much as a blink. They discussed something which Demi could not hear from his position, hopped back onto the yellow bird driven cart and took off once again.

Just as the group started moving, a huge figure leapt down from the roof. This time, Demi saw a man covered from head to toe in polished silver armour. The man was also riding on a yellow bird which peculiarly was covered almost entirely by similar silver armour. The bird held a steady and serious expression. It was apparently very well-trained. The rider and his mount then moved off after the trio, following closely behind their cart.

Demi knowing he was never going to catch up to the trio and the man in silver, decided to look around the area, trying to find anything that could be used as transportation. He found none. However, he did see a staircase on a hill side leading up to the roof of a building. Demi figured he could at least watch what was going on if he was on higher ground.

Seconds later, he was on the roof, moving his head slowly in case he missed anything. He saw glimpses of the moving cart but couldn't pinpoint their general location. At last, he spotted the man in silver armour leaping up on the roof of a building. "The aliens must have met with an obstacle!"Demi thought excitedly. His eyes traced the path of alleys leading to where the aliens must have stopped, and moved down the stairs following the route.

With his superior intellect, it was no problem for Demi , who could remember every turn in his head while he ran. Back in St. Ivalice, sports was the one thing which always daunted him. He was never good at running and he was often failing his fitness tests. This time, he had a strange urge to just keep on running, so as to reach his target in the shortest time possible. His stamina had definitely increased. Perhaps it was something that the light changed in him.

He weaved left and right through the alleys, occasionally seeing a human corpse lying by the side, blood flowing uncontrollably. Finally, he reached the site where the aliens had supposedly stopped. "Holy S**t!" he almost shouted as he saw the scene which lay before him.

Two humans wielding swords were battling with the aliens. Something about their swords was different than the swords the previous humans were using. They looked longer and sharper, in much better condition than the short swords. One of the three aliens was badly injured and kneeling in the middle of the street, panting and wheezing while the other two were locked in combat.

"Cursssesss, Hume! Onccce I ssstrike you down, I'll tear your body into ssshredsssss!" one alien yelled.

"Not if I strike you down first, Bangaa!" the human spat back.

The alien in his anger, attacked frantically, trying desperately to land a grievous blow. It was too bad that the human was much too quick, dodging with ease, sometimes holding out his sword to ward off an attack from the alien's large sword. When he had had enough of toying with the alien, the human counterattacked, turning his body and catching his foe's sword with his own near the hilt and proceeded to elbow the reptile in the face.

The bone connected with the nose of the alien and drew blood. The lizard stumbled backwards in pain, momentarily stunned. The human swordsman seized the opportunity to ram his blade straight into the shoulder of the reptile. It bellowed out in pain as the human pulled his sword out from the wound. The human then delivered a kick to the face of the alien, sending him sprawling onto the ground.

The other human was not having as much luck though. The alien he was fighting slammed his sword with such force onto his blade that it disarmed him and then punched forward with a fist, sending him flying through the air about three meters before coming to a stop, back crashing into a wall. He spat blood out from the force.

The alien hissed in triumph, raising his sword as he walked towards the human, about to finish him off... when he was forced to lower his sword to guard against the incoming attack of the other human who had taken care of his teammate who was lying on the ground. The two clashed repeatedly, weapons causing sparks to fly. The alien then stepped back after the series of attacks and gripped his sword tightly, causing it to glow red. It then charged at the human roaring, "Ssspeed break!"

The human smirked, then flipped his weapon to the backhand position and planted it into the ground. Still holding on to the sword, he uttered, "Saint Cross."

The ground cracked a little as light seeped out of it, then burst open as more light shot forth from the point between sword and ground. The light formed in a circle along the ground around the human and expanded, smashing into the charging alien and throwing him backwards. The attack also brought up a cloud of sand which hovered in the air, reducing visibility.

When the cloud settled, Demi could see the three aliens kneeling and staring up intently at the victorious human swordsman. The human asked them confidently, "So, gentlemen, have you come to the agreement that you have lost before I kill you myself?"

"Never!" the alien who was hit by the light spoke and suddenly turned, his eyes on Demi. "I'll sssee you ssstop me now!"

Demi was startled by this, and stepped back. The alien grinned evilly, its eyes slits like before. It raised his sword...and charged right at Demi!

A puzzling sensation gripped Demi at that moment. His hands snapped upwards, palms wide open, directed towards the sky. There was a flash, and a lightning bolt fell from the heavens. It didn't pierce through Demi. Instead, it struck at the open palm and disappeared, in its place a gun.

Demi's fingers moved catching the gun in midair and pointed it at the charging alien. The gun was strange. It was designed like a pistol but longer and bulkier. It was not as long as a rifle or a shotgun and was strangely light in weight despite having five barrels. His fingers moved, without him willing it, pulling the trigger.

The gun shot five bullets out at once, and blew the alien's head right off its neck. Or rather, it destroyed the entire head. The head had been blown to bits, covering a radius of about ten metres with blood. It was horribly gruesome. An eyeball rolled over to touch Demi's shoes, blood trailing behind it. The body, with blood still spraying from the hole where the head had separated from the neck, collapsed on the ground, completely lifeless.

Demi, his clothes and face covered in blood shivered, in utter disbelief at what he had just done. He stepped back, his eyes wide, hands still holding tight to the weapon. He looked up to see the companion of the alien who had roared and started charging at him as well.

His arm raised again, pointing the gun this time at the enraged alien. "No don't make me do this. Please stop!" Demi screamed as his index finger closed around the trigger of the gun and applied pressure backwards.

Bang!

What will happen next? Read the next chapter to find out! Till then, farewell!

A/N:

Well, well. It's the end of another chapter. I hope anyone can provide me with suggestions on how to end my story in a better fashion. And yes, I do so like creating uncontrollable killing weapons. I hope no one is put off by the part where the head was destroyed.


	3. Chapter 3 Magical World

Rileythenub presents: Who am I? The villain saviour!

Chapter 3: Magical world

The finger squeezed the trigger, sending out five more bullets at one go. The alien was ready, after watching how another of his race had died, and covered his face with his sword while he charged. The pieces of lead glanced off the steel, though not without leaving five dents. This action proved to be futile as the bullets did not simply stop and fall to the ground. No, instead, they turned around mid-flight and hurtled towards the exposed side of the alien.

Five thuds sounded out, followed by a yelp of pain. Demi was stunned. Bullets could never behave in such an awkward manner. While he stared at his hand holding the mysterious gun, the alien continued towards him, limping and panting. Blood dribbled from its left shoulder and it was clearly surprised, eyes widened in horror. What Demi had just done was not normal, even compared to what the previous alien and human did.

If Demi could have dropped the gun and ran for his life, he would certainly do so. However, there was no way he could do it, what with him being unable to control his fingers. Suddenly, Demi felt his hand drawing energy from him, giving him a sensation as though part of his blood had flowed to the hand holding the gun. There was a small click and Demi's finger moved again. This time, from all five barrels came a stream of intense fire. The fire went on and on, just like a flamethrower. The flames washed right over the alien, covering its entire body with orange.

From behind the infernal cloak, screams came from the alien. Screams of agony, screams of pain. It was horrifying but Demi's fingers stayed pulling the trigger. The blast continued to engulf the alien, flames feasting on its body. When the screams finally died out, Demi's finger released its hold. It had to be only around fifteen seconds since the blast started, and already there was a blackened corpse, headless due to the alien's head being turned to ashes.

"Oh my f***ing god! Wha-what just happened?" Demi muttered, shivering. The heat made everything blurry, further adding to his disbelief. He had just killed two powerful aliens with an unknown gun in extremely brutal ways. The last alien, picked itself up and started running away down the street, fearing for its life. The unknown force controlling Demi was, unfortunately for the alien, not so kind as to allow it to make its escape. Demi's arm turned, following the retreating figure. The gun pointing straight at the alien seemed to make some sort of cackle, like it was going to do something it enjoyed greatly. Demi on the other hand, had a terrible feeling he knew what was coming.

The gun jerked violently for a second, before purging its parts. The four barrels diagonal to the one in the middle, fell off and disappeared into black fire. The draining sensation gripped Demi again, and the gun trembled in anticipation and delight. With that done, Demi's finger pulled the trigger...

A ball of yellow light was produced near the barrel, and it shot forward, converting into a beam as thick as what the original size of the gun was. The beam travelled down the street, hitting the alien in the back, right behind where the heart would be. Instead of sending the alien into the air with an explosion of energy, the beam ripped through its body, leaving a circular hole, continuing on and on to blow through a whole line of buildings. There was no blood, no hint of a falling stone for a split second, and then it happened.

The force of the blast, threw Demi backwards, slamming him into a wall. Stone from the road tore off and flew towards the direction of the beam as the shockwave moved from where the beam originated. Several walls of sand were thrown up by the sheer force. The gun in Demi's hand faded into black fire with another cackle and he fell unconscious.

...

"Hey, I heard that the kid in there actually killed three Bangaa warriors, with a gun too." a voice came from somewhere to Demi's left.

"Yeah, I've never even heard of guns carrying that much power that it could kill. That boy might have huge power, he might even be a threat to us." another voice replied, also from Demi's left.

"Hey, guess what's even more mysterious? The boy made someone truly die in an engagement! He did it with a judge around!"

"Are you serious? That's never even been done before! How'd he do it?"

"Well, it seems that the judge managed to revive two of the three dead bangaas. But the third, the one who was hit by a beam of light, could not be revived. There was no blood on him either, just a large gaping hole in his body. The beam seemed to have sealed up the sides of the circle in the bangaa's body, so that blood was not present. The judge could not force the cells to grow as a result."

"Hmm? But didn't judges at one point fix a person's body which was petrified and had a hole in it? I remember that was back in the time when the legendary Marche Radiuju and his Clan Nutsy fought against Clan Ritz in the Siena Gorge."

"Sure they did, but petrification is a status effect that the judges' cureall can remove. After that, it's just healing. But in this case, something happened which had nothing to do with statuses."

"I see."

Demi opened his eyes, immediately after the conversation ended, and saw to his own surprise, himself lying in a straw bed. To his left, was a door, slightly ajar, and outside were two humans in metallic armour conversing about what he had done in the street. He glanced around the room and sighed. How had he gotten here? The room was dimly lit with a small glass lamp on his bedside table. Across from him were a few bags, and the room was relatively small. He sat up and summarised everything that had happened since he arrived in the world. From what he knew and overheard, the aliens were probably some reptilian race called the Bangaa. The world had magic in it, as evidenced by the strange flashes of light appearing from weapons. A gun had controlled him and used him to kill three bangaas. Two bangaas were revived from the dead, but one was permanently dead from the concentrated beam he fired. The man in armour riding the bird and the origins of the gun were still unknown to him. After the battle, he fell unconscious and was taken to this place by probably the two men outside.

"Ah, you're awake!" a voice shook Demi from his thoughts. A man was staring at him and smiling, a glass of water in his hand. "I went to get a glass of water for you but seeing as you're awake, drink up and we'll talk later. All of us are interested to know what actually happened back in the street."

Demi recognised the man as the one who unleashed the circle of light attack with his sword against the bangaa trio's leader. Demi hesitated, then spoke, "Where am I? What happened?"

"You were knocked unconscious when the blast threw you backwards. Don't you remember? It was I who brought you back here. As to where you are, you'll get an answer pretty soon once we...interview you in a few moments time." The man handed Demi the glass.

Demi took the glass and drank deeply from it, just realising how thirsty he was. After drinking he looked up at the man and said, "I thank you. But I might be unable to answer your questions. You see, I have just arrived here and am not too familiar with the ways of this place or this power that I had demonstrated previously."

The man eyed Demi for a few seconds then spoke," Regardless, we would still like to ask you a few questions. If you don't mind, we leave now for the conference room."

"But-!" Demi protested, then gave up as he saw that the man was not listening and had left the room. He shouted at Demi to follow him and walked down the hall.

Demi rolled his eyes and hopped off the bed, back still aching from the impact of back against wall, and he winced a little as he took a step forward. The two men standing outside glared at him as he walked past, and Demi couldn't help but feel that their suspicions were right.

The hallway was plain, on both sides of Demi stood two yellow-bricked walls, undecorated and dirty. Black stone tiles marked with a strange design covered the floor and the ceiling was lit by a few overhead lamps hanging by chains. A few doors were the only irregularities in the sight. The man whom Demi was following had stopped several meters ahead and was pointing towards a majestic looking door, almond in colour, large and impressive. He raised his other hand and beckoned Demi towards him.

"Now don't feel too pressurised. Sure, Nicholas might be a little scary at times, but he's harmless. The other leaders I'm not too sure about. As long as you answer their questions, I'm pretty sure you'll be fine. Now come on, let's go." The man assured Demi when he approached.

The man then pushed open the double doors, revealing to Demi a large room, in it a rectangular table and lining the four corners, blue flags, the symbol unrecognisable as they were drooped down. Seated around the table were armoured men, mostly middle-aged, with a few younger members. Demi's guide moved to an empty seat somewhere beside the man at the head of the table. He gestured towards an empty seat closest to the door as he sat down.

Demi took a deep breath, exhaled and took his seat. The man who was supposedly the leader and who sat at the head of the table, spoke up. He was sporting a short beard, was heavily muscled and wore golden armour, much different and polished then the silver armour most of the other men wore. This was clearly a man who held much power and authority. His expression was solemn and he did not smile. His blue eyes gazed straight at Demi's own, piercing into him.

"Welcome visitor. May I know your name?"

"It's Demi, uh...sir?"

" Okay, young Demi. I happened to receive news that you, a mere child, defeated three adult rogue bangaas, severely damaged one's body to the point that he could not be revived in an engagement all with barely even a scratch. Not to mention that this was the first time such an incident has occurred. Please explain this."

"Um..."Demi gulped, then replied, "I'm not too sure sir. It's just that I couldn't control my own body. When the bangaa attacked me, I felt possessed. The gun just controlled me and did everything. Before I knew it, I had killed all of them."

"I find it hard to believe, Nicholas," an elderly man spoke up from the people gathered. "How is it possible for a weapon to control its master? I say that he's lying!"

"Calm down, Harold. We've not even heard the full story." The leader waved an arm to silence him, then turned back to face Demi, eyes still as piercing as before. Demi stiffened in surprise and fear.

"Now then. May I ask how you came to be in possession of that particular weapon, young Demi?"

"Well, it kinda fell from the sky in a lightning bolt. And after that, the gun was controlling my actions."

" Very well. However, we gathered here are curious to know what gun could cause such destruction. For your information, guns do not have the ability to kill unless being fired for an impossibly long period of time. The previous war has only proven it once and it has never happened before and after that. Reports from gunners and experts over the centuries have never discovered guns with the ability to fire devastating beams of light as seen by my subordinate here, which also have the power to truly kill someone in a single hit. How so, are you going to explain such a phenomenon? Who designed that gun?"

" I don't know sir. I just got here after falling down a tunnel of light and darkness so I'm not too sure about what exists in this world."

The leader looked puzzled for a second, after which his face hardened and he asked, "Explain what you mean by that, young Demi."

"Well, I live in a snow covered town in the countryside called and I was suddenly hit by a blast of white light and thrown into this desert town. I was expecting you guys to know what it all meant. Guess not huh?"

"This is strange indeed. How strange that our country shares the same name as your town. Ivalice does not snow safe for a few places like the Siena gorge and the Lutia pass. You must have come from one of the seams that exist in this world. Seams are special dimensions in this world. You say you have just arrived here in this town, so have you been to the cities of Sprohm and Cyril?"

" I'm not sure what you mean by those cities, sir. Although I have a theory that was turned into this country you spoke of through magic. In fact I have not seen any part of this country except the city and this building."

"That complicates things. Are you trying to say that the country of Ivalice is actually a countryside town by the name of ? Also, you say that you did not know the origins of that gun and the power you wield. Do you know then, what vierra, nu mou and moogles are?

"Who?"

"Vierra, nu mou and moogles." The leader repeated.

" What are they?"

"As I suspected, you do know nothing of this land. I shall explain. The three I have listed are the other races in Ivalice. Besides humes, which are us, the bangaa which you fought, there are five more races. Vierra, nu mou and moogles are three of the races while the other two are the Seeq and Gria races. This town, as you would have noticed has been deserted. We are the order of the unicorn. All of us seated before you are paladins and this town is called Himpdor, the headquarters of our order."

Demi considered it all for a moment, suspicion threatening to overwhelm him. He stared at his feet, unsure of what to say. The paladin then asked him again, "Are you feeling well, young Demi?"

"Yeah, I am. It's just I can't understand how all of this happened. If this is truly the case then I'm sure I have to go back to my own world. Do you perhaps know how to open a seam and send me back?"

"Unfortunately, seams are considered unusual in our world and it would take a sorcerer of great powers to open one. I'm afraid that our order is unable to help you with this task, although personally, I think I know of one person which might be able to help you. He lives in Cadoan, a week's travel from here.

"Hold on, Nicholas."The elderly paladin spoke up again. "How are we sure that what he is saying is the truth? It is absurd that you trust a mysterious and dangerous boy so easily. I suggest we give him a test, to see if he really knows nothing of his power."

"A test? What sort of test, Harold?"

" A test of his abilities of course. I know just the person who is fit to test him." Harold said slyly, cunning etched across his face.

"Who?"

"That person is two floors beneath us, in the prison. Shall I get him? After that, the convict would test him for us."

Nicholas, pondered this and agreed, nodding his head to show it. Harold stood up, accompanied by another paladin who sat beside him. Demi's escort stole a glance at him, face riddled with worry. Nicholas gave instructions to the escort and Demi was taken out of the room seconds later. His escort told him, "Be careful of Harold. He's the head of the science department. He would do anything to enhance his research. I'm Zach by the way, lieutenant of Nicholas. I was instructed to take you to the training grounds outside this building."

"Follow me, Demi." Zach moved off down the corridor. Demi, not sure of what to do, followed him without a word. If the place was indeed a new world, and Demi could not find a way out, it would mean that he had to learn to live in this world. According to the conversation earlier, Demi assumed he would have to fight against a prisoner that the paladins kept. His fear showed through his face, which was a sheet of white.

"Hey Zach! Why is it that you and Nicholas trust me that much? From the looks on the others' faces, they don't seem to like me that much, especially Harold. What do you stand to gain from this? Like Harold said, I'm dangerous in your eyes right?" Demi asked suddenly as they walked, turning the corner.

"Well, Nicholas didn't get his position by being a spineless coward. He was fearless in battle and stood by his ideals. He was a powerful and valiant paladin not to mention he was my mentor. He taught me since I was thirteen years old and he inspired me to become a paladin like him. One of his teachings was that helping someone does not require a reason. We help simply because we want to and because there is someone in need of it. Nicholas has even helped his enemy a few times before. Now that person is the sorcerer and friend that he mentioned back in the conference room."

He stopped, then looked back and said, "That is the mark of a true hero, and he deserves the title of grand paladin. Even now I'm not sure whether I can live up to his achievements. Anyway, here we are. Good luck!" Zach pushed open the door in front of both of then and warm sunlight greeted Demi. There was no one on the open field at the time and Demi glanced around noticing the obstacles set up to aid in the paladins' training. He walked toward the tree opposite him and sat down under the shade, his body unaccustomed to the heat from the sun.

A few minutes later, from the door came four figures. Harold, his lieutenant, Nicholas and a tiny white furred creature appeared. The four looked around and noticed Demi. Harold walked forward and turned revealing the white-furred creature and said," May I introduce to you, the moogle, Daliet. This moogle is just like you, a gunner. You will fight him as a test of your skills. A judge will be called in to supervise this battle. Now stand over there, we will begin shortly."

Harold's lieutenant slung a sack over his shoulder and opened it up, handing the moogle a gun and what looked like an ammo belt. Inside, he drew out another gun and tossed it to Demi. This gun was only single-barrelled, unlike the five-barrelled one he used. An ammo belt followed and Demi had to fumble with his gun to catch it. The moogle's expression, previously dull and uninterested changed to an evil grin, sensing Demi's nervousness.

"Engage!" Harold said tossing a white star into the air. The star vanished, to be replaced by a large bird covered in metallic armour and the silver armoured rider. It was the rider from before!

The rider, now known to Demi as a judge, blew his whistle, signalling the start of the engagement. The moogle and Demi stared at each other for a while, the wind whistling around them. Demi gripped his gun tightly and inserted a bullet into his gun, sweat building on his forehead, covered by his blue hair. The moogle did too as well and he sprung into action, firing a shot at Demi...

A/N:

The end of another story and this took longer than I expected. I'm sorry I had to end the story there but I wanted to build up suspense. I wanted the next chapter to be a full fight you see. Anyway, till next time folks!


	4. Chapter 4 The power of a genius

Rileythenub presents: Who am I? The villain saviour!

Chapter 4: The power of a genius

Bang! The bullet hit Demi in the shoulder. The shot stung, and he felt a sharp pain. The bullet didn't cause much damage though, unlike real world guns. The moogle gunner wasn't finished as he ran forward, squeezing the trigger several times. The shots flew and struck with incredible accuracy, directly at the same spot on Demi's shoulder. This time, Demi could not help but cry out in pain. The shots had indeed done something to his shoulder after that.

He had to move and he knew it. He stepped to the side to dodge a bullet and raised his own gun. It was a pistol, like the one he used in the street, only strangely, was heavier. There were no strange effects now. The pistol was completely his and nothing was controlling him. He fired a shot and it went wide, way wide. He wasn't a very good shot without some help from a controller. He was punished by another stream of bullets for his inaccuracy, hitting his other shoulder.

"Crap!" Demi cursed and started running, firing a few more shots at the moogle who pursued him. The shots flew left and right, hitting anywhere but his target. The moogle grinned again and reached for several bullets from his ammo belt, then rammed them in to his gun expertly, concentrated for a few moments and let loose a flaming bullet. Literally. The bullet was coated with flames as it zoomed towards Demi.

The bullet struck him in the back and sent tingles through his body. Even more worrisome was that his jacket was on fire, and Demi had to drop and roll on the ground to put out the fire. While rolling, three bullets struck the ground, narrowly missing him. He got up quickly, aiming this time at his opponent through a scope built on the gun. It was too late, however as one shot slammed his wrist and his gun went spinning away from him. He clutched his wrist in pain and ducked, dodged and did everything he could to keep himself from getting hit by the bullets the moogle was shooting at him.

The moogle reached out with one hand and mumbled some words Demi could not understand. From its palm, the moogle shot out a fireball, which careened forward, homing in on Demi.

Demi was forced to dive out of the way of the flame which hit the ground seconds where Demi had just been. He placed his hands on the ground as he crawled toward his dropped gun. He grabbed it juts as a block of ice crushed onto the ground where his gun had been. "Strange," Demi thought. "Is this ground completely sand, or is it covered in sand? The ground was hard...So what was that feeling?"

He figured it out suddenly, and a block of ice hit him in the chest and threw him backwards. Next, a ball of fire was lobbed at Demi, searing his clothes and burning his face. Demi screamed and rolled around in circles, covering his face which was now blackened in spots. He shot off a few bullets from his gun desperately, hoping to at least hit something. Remarkably, it worked and one of the shots hit the moogle in the face.

The moogle cried out, his left eye now a dark bluish patch and his expression was one of rage. He fired a few more shots to vent his frustrations and smashed Demi with blocks of ice. Each hit send blasts of pain throughout his body. He cringed and fired back with his gun, instinctively taking and shoving more bullets into the gun whenever he ran out. The shots were not accurate, but they were hitting the moogle more frequently and even managed to make it stagger back, surprised.

"Hmph, I've had enough of this game. I'll end this right now, kupo!" the moogle said, irritated.

The moogle closed his eyes and concentrated, mumbling the incantations. Demi felt the air heat up suddenly and a burst of energy flowing from the moogle. The energy seeped towards the moogle's right arm, congregating there. Soon, a ball of fiery energy, greater than the previous ones was in its palm. "That's not all, hume!" It raised its left paw, and the energy started flowing towards it, this time glowing a pale blue. "I'll show you the difference in our powers, kupo" it smirked as both balls of energy, one red and one blue, hovered over its paws.

"Here I come!" the moogle shouted, bringing its palms together. As the twin balls collided, there was an explosion of energy. "Ice and fire combination! FIraga, Blizzaga! Annihilate!"

Ice shards and fire shot out from the energy source, spreading across the ground. The two powers had no effect on each other. Rather, the effort was coordinated, fire using ice to spread rapidly and ice shard tips coated with flames. Demi leapt to the side, hoping to avoid the attack. Burning ice shards penetrated into his waist area and he screamed. The flames spread upwards, searing his clothes and making him writhe in pain. The ground was completely a sea of flames and ice. Demi thrashed, screaming desperately. The moogle laughed as Demi suffered, shooting at him and amplifying the pain. Amidst the torturous pain, Demi gave out a small smile, unknown to his attacker. Luckily, Demi's clothes seemed to be able to block out the elemental damage that would almost have certainly killed him.

"Why aren't you dead yet, kupo?" the moogle's expression changed to one of frustration. In response to the moogle's desperation, most of the flames dissipated, and the remaining melted the ice on the ground. The two elements were losing their synergy.

From afar, Harold grinned smugly. "Ah, I see. For magic power to remain at its strongest, the caster has to retain his concentration. By losing his cool, the two elements have weakened. Furthermore, with such contrasting combination as ice and fire, it would weaken even more rapidly. Hmm, I wonder about why the child has yet to be consumed though."

"It matters not. I'll just have to crush you with my superior gunning skills, kupo!" the moogle charged forward, firing more bullets coated with fire and occasionally, ice. Limping, Demi had to use much of his strength to heave himself forward in an awkward jump. The bullets missed, although one managed to find it's mark, sending a chilling pain through his leg.

"Argh! D-damn you!" He took aim and fired at the moogle who was reloading. The two bullets he fired split its gun into two. The moogle was shocked and it fell backwards to avoid two more bullets from Demi. "Heheh, I got you got now!" Demi smiled as he shouted.

The moogle although largely unhurt, was panting. "H-how? How did you not die? My magic combo is flawless!"

"Pure luck, I guess?" Demi sent two more shots into the moogle, bringing it to its knees. "Hmph, I'm getting pretty good at this aiming thing!"

"I'll show you!" the moogle croaked, closing his eyes and concentrating once more. Demi sensing magical energy being channelled again, fired at the moogle, trying to break his opponent's concentration. Though the bullets hit, and blood was drawn, the moogle was not deterred, lips mumbling again.

"This is something I've never attempted, but I'll try anyway, kupo!"

The moogle pointed its fingers in Demi's direction, and let loose a jet of lightning, "Thunder, pierce my enemy!" The electrical energy flew at great speed, but the moogle mage's aim was off. Instead, the thunder spell speared Demi's gun into two neat halves.

The moogle grinned, falling on his back, panting as it lay there. "How'd you like that, kupo!"

Demi smiled coldly, saying calmly, "You know, I've always found the architecture of this building to be lacking."

"Building? What are you talking about, kupo?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Hmph, you must be seeing things, kupo. Anyway, it looks like this is a stalemate."

"Oh, I'm afraid you are horribly mistaken. On the contrary, this..." Demi took a step back and stomped down hard on the grassy part of the ground.

"Is a checkmate." Demi said calmly as the ground below the moogle gave in and it was sent into a pit built in the ground, buried by the toppling earth.

A/N: OK, I'm afraid this took a little long. Mostly because I got a new game and I was hooked on it. Well, maybe I was a little lazy here and there, but I hope you readers will forgive me. Anyways see ya next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5 The Servant

Rileythenub presents: Who am I? The villain saviour!

Chapter 5: The servant

The moogle gunner screamed as his body was sent down into the ground. The collapsing earth toppled inwards and the scream was cut off. From afar, Harold and Nicholas stared in awe. Part of their headquarters had just caved in. Harold stared blankly for a few seconds before his expression turned to one of glee.

"That kid amazes me. He figured out that the prison cells were directly underneath this training ground? Using the elements of fire and ice from his opponent, he knew that the rapid heat gain and heat loss would weaken the earth."

"I-I'm loss for words myself, Harold." Nicholas replied.

A sharp whistle broke off their voices suddenly. The judge raised his right arm and spoke with a deep booming voice, "This engagement will go to Demi! The winner will now be restored." A warm green light covered Demi's body and his wounds sealed. Pain was extinguished in a flash. Demi stared down at his own clothes, noticing the bruises turning back to his normal skin colour and the frost on his clothes dissipated into the air. Demi looked just like he did before he had started the engagement.

"Now then," the judge rode towards the two paladins. "In order to revive the moogle underground, I suggest your order clear up the rubble. It is impossible to restore him when his body has been crushed by such tremendous pressure."

"We'll get to it right away." Harold said, turning to his lieutenant and barked orders. Seconds later, his lieutenant ran back into the building.

Demi walked sheepishly to the gaping hole in the ground and peered in. It was completely covered in earth and the moogle's body was nowhere to be seen. He felt a pat on his shoulder. Demi turned to find Nicholas' kind eyes staring into his own copper like ones. "You did well kid, although what you have demonstrated in the street earlier was not observed, I believe you have great situational awareness. Few can use the terrain to his advantage in such a manner and even take out a dangerous criminal."

"It was really nothing. I'm sure I got pretty lucky this fight."

"Whatever the case, it seems that this mystery is unsolved. You did say you came from another world so the order is going to help you find your way back. Remember I told you of a man that I knew who could help you?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Well firstly we have to travel to Baguba Port, then from there take an airship to Cadoan. As far as I know, that is the fastest possible route."

"We?"

"Yes, we. In fact, me and my lieutenant Zach will be accompanying you on the trip to Cadoan. I shall inform him of the journey ahead in a while. Only I know of the man's whereabouts while Zach is my lieutenant and it never hurts to have another companion to help in times of crisis."

"Alright, when do we depart?"

"Hmm... tomorrow seems okay. Have an early night, I'll tell Zach to prepare the guest room for you. We leave early tomorrow morning."

Having said that, the majestic paladin turned and walked back into the building. Demi stared at his distant back for a few moments before heading back to the headquarters himself. It was going to be his first time seeing the rest of the world tomorrow and he was excited instead of afraid. The world was just getting interesting to Demi. For some reason Demi could not shake the feeling that the new world he was in was familiar to him somehow.

To his surprise, Zach was waiting for Demi at the entrance to the training grounds with his back slumped against the wall like he had been waiting for the engagement to end. "Oh, wow. I heard from Nicholas that you actually defeated the moogle criminal. I remember when I had to arrest him. Man, it took a lot of work, a lot of work."

"Umm, so what are you doing here? I thought you left earlier."

"Well, as Nicholas' lieutenant, I gotta stay close to him in case something dangerous happens. As far as I know, both Nicholas and Harold were never on good terms."

"Hmmph, did Nicholas tell you? We're leaving for a trip to find the sorcerer that he spoke of."

"Yeah, he did. I'll make sure to prepare the supplies for tomorrow and the days ahead. You can find your way back to the room right?"

"Course."

As Demi made his way back, many of the paladins he crossed gave him suspicious glances and whispered amongst themselves. Word had travelled fast. His "exploits" had already earned him a fair amount of attention. It was just like back in the real world. Other students would whisper about him in the corridors. Wherever he went, he was always the subject of curiosity and suspicion. This world was no exception. People still felt that there was something different and nasty about him.

...

The next day, they were off at the crack of dawn. At the entrance to the headquarters was Harold with the moogle gunner, Daliet. Daliet was completely healed now and was looking away as if embarrassed to meet Demi's eyes. As the threesome approached, Harold declared, "As an expert of guns and black magic, I find Daliet here extremely suitable to be accompanying young Demi on his journey. I have instructed him to mentor Demi on his gunmanship skills as well."

Nicholas' jaw dropped. "How were you able to make him come along, Harold? Surely now, he hates Demi and would like nothing to do with him. Besides, bringing him along would pose a serious threat to the safety of our party. Have you forgotten that this moogle was a former criminal?"

"Tsk, Tsk. Nicholas, I have my methods of persuasion. I did some research into the background of Daliet's family. The Flarce family of mages has the rule that should any of their members be defeated in single combat, they are obliged to serve the ones that bested them. The birthmark on their left paws prevents any members of the Flarce family from causing intentional harm to their masters and also ensures that they cannot go against any order given by their masters. It is also their duty to heed their masters' words otherwise that mark will activate a spell which will destroy their bodies. To explain this, from what I understand, the Flarce family is a noble family with a strict code of honour. The birthmark is given to all members as a means to preserve their honour. Once they have lost in single combat, the birthmark spell is put on standby and would activate should they turn on their masters. The mark's activation signifies that the member is unfit to bear the name Flarce and is hence expelled from the family. This ensures that the Flarce family will go to great lengths to secure victory."

"Wow, how did such a thing even exist? I find it hard to believe. Anyway, how come Demi is Daliet's master? Why isn't it Zach?" Nicholas said with bewilderment.

"That's because Zach did not capture Daliet through single combat. However, I defeated him

fairly in single combat and therefore Daliet is my servant." Demi answered.

"You catch on pretty quick, Demi. Good, good." Harold said with growing excitement.

"Hmmph, let's put this theory to the test shall we?" Demi said, a devilish smile already forming on his face. "Daliet, my servant, I command you to sit!"

Daliet gave a resigned look, and sat down. "How do I know he's not faking obedience? Daliet, I order you to kill me now!"

Daliet's resigned look changed to one of pure horror. Daliet unholstered his gun and pointed it at Demi. Just as he was about to fire, a purple light glowed from left paw and Daliet fell to the ground, clutching his chest and started squealling horribly. "Demi, he's being tortured, maybe you should tell him to stop?" Zach asked almost pleadingly.

Demi started laughing at Daliet's helplessness and after a few seconds stopped with a dark grin on his face. "Perfect. Daliet you can stop trying to kill me now."

At once, the light faded. The moogle heaved a sigh of relief and twitched uncontrollably on the ground, his body sweating profusely. "You didn't have to do that, Demi." Zach said.

"Excuse me? I had to test whether he was truly loyal to me. Besides, I felt like punishing him for giving me that attitude as my servant the instant I saw him with that look."

"Fine. Nicholas, let's not tarry here, we have to get to the nearest village by the afternoon."

"Alright, we're going. I'll take the lead!" Nicholas called out to Demi and Daliet.

"Daliet, we're leaving!" Demi ordered.

The gunner climbed to his feet almost instantly, the look of fear still clinging to his face. Demi's brown eyes followed his movements partly suspiciously and partly with some amusement. He had never had a servant before. It felt good, forcing his will on others. Harold threw Demi the gun he used yesterday saying, " Here you go, you'll need something to defend yourself. Good luck!"

Demi smirked, waved his left arm lazily and walked off after the two paladins, with Daliet following obediently behind him. Demi's first journey had started.

...

After a few hours of walking through the dense forest near the town, the group stopped near a flowing stream to catch their breath. Demi sat down on a fallen log and looked into a travelling sack that Zach had brought for him. Inside were several buns wrapped in cloth and Demi suddenly noticed how hungry he was. He had not eaten anything for the whole of yesterday. He quickly unwrapped the cloth and ate feverishly. Unknown to him, two eyes stared down at him from atop a tree branch.

"Daliet, fetch me some water from the stream! I'm thirsty!"

"Right away, master!"

As Daliet scampered off for the stream, the pair of eyes narrowed in glee. The figure in the branches crept carefully toward the edge of the tree, poised to ambush Demi while he was eating. His legs bunched up, ready to take the leap, ready to secure a kill with his polished axe.

He leapt...together with a lightning bolt.

A/N:

Yeah, so this is chapter 5. Ran into a mental block and couldn't think of good words to use. Looks like I gotta brush up my English. Can't entertain anyone with pathetic standards.


	6. Chapter 6 Weakness

Rileythenub presents: Who am I? The villain saviour!

Chapter 6: Weakness

"The assailant cried out in shock as the lighning bolt struck past him. Below, his target's arm shot upwards, snatching the end of the lightning bolt in midair. In the blink of an eye, a gun with five barrels materialised in his hand.

Demi, just as surprised gave a short yelp, as his body was dragged to its feet. His index finger pulled the trigger on his gun and from it, he could feel the energy being drained from him. Each barrel shot five balls of electricity that spiralled outwards, circling the assailant. With a large crackle, the assassin's body hung in midair, trapped inside the ring of electrical spheres.

Demi's victim struggled and raw electrical energy surged through his blubbery body as it made contact with the enigmatic spheres. "Argh!" he squealed out in pain, body going limp almost instantly. Demi who was still in a state of disbelief, managed to stutter, "Wh-who are y-you?"

The creature staring down at Demi was about his height, large droopy ears and a large belly. A horn on it's head together with a pig's snout rounded off its features.

"What's wrong?" Nicholas and Zach came running back to where Demi was with Daliet following closely behind. They stopped and looked up in awe for a while before staring at Demi, perplexed. "Uhh... What's going on?"

"I-I don't know. This creature just appeared from nowhere and the next thing I knew the gun was back in my hand." Demi replied, equally confused.

The gunner's three companions took a step backwards, wary of the gun's destructive power. "Hey, what are you guys doing? I need some help here!" Demi called out in frustration.

"I know, Demi! But there's no telling what that gun could do!" Zach shouted back.

"Huh? So you're just gonna leave me here?"

"Have you tried moving your limbs?" Nicholas asked.

"Yeah, I can't move any of them!"

Nicholas reached for the hilt of his sword. He took a deep breath and crept cautiously towards Demi's position. Suddenly, Demi's arm jerked and the pistol pointed right at the paladin. The pistol however, did not make Demi fire. Instead, the gun trained on Nicholas as he walked around the perimeter of the clearing.

"Let me go!" a voice shattered the tense atmosphere. The piglike creature cried out, waving his arms frantically. At once, the pistol changed targets, pointing at him.

"Silence, Seeq! Or do you want to die?" Nicholas scowled.

"Uhhh..." The seeq's voice trailed off, fear catching up to him.

"Hey, Nicholas. I've got a plan." Demi said with a smile on his face. "I know how to beat this blasted thing."

"That was fast." Nicholas praised, amazed. "So, what is it?"

"To do that I'll need the Seeq's cooperation." Demi turned his head and looked at the porcine creature. "Well? Do you want to escape? You can answer our questions later."

"What makes you think your plan'll work, Hume? You're my enemy!"

"Your point being?" Demi smirked with an eyebrow raised.

"I would never help someone I was ordered to kill! Sides, you can't even control yourself!"

"That problem is what my plan intends to solve. You can either try, or stay up there until you die." Demi's smirk turned solemn, eyes staring dead into the seeq's own round ones. The seeq stiffened at this and sighed. " Guess I've got no friggin choice, eh? What bright idea have ya got?"

"Usually, the gun would simply kill you. But have you noticed that the gun did not exhibit any killing intent?"

"What are ya saying? If ya can't move because of the frickin gun, how the heck do you plan on getting anywhere with asking weird questions?" the Seeq spouted, kicking his legs like a struggling baby.

"Let me tell you something, Seeq. This gun I'm holding right now has the power to kill you instantly. It has already done so thrice, so why has it not this time? Either its attacks are completely random or there could be a fixed sequence. But that could only happen if the gun was mindless. From what I've experienced with this weapon, it definitely felt like it had its own consciousness, but at the same time, not a very powerful one." Demi's eyes turned from the seeq to Nicholas. "Nicholas, what are your abilities as a paladin?"

"Mostly healing and defensive abilities. I approached you because I knew I could defend myself should that gun attack me."

"As I thought. Here's the plan. I need you to jump forward and attack me with your defensive ability invoked. This will be an engagement, your enemy will be me." Demi said without blinking. "Daliet!"

"Yes, master?" Daliet asked from where he was standing, which was a good twenty metres away.

"You will shoot at my gun when I give the signal." At this, Daliet nodded furiously, not wanting to cross his master. "As for Zach, you'll charge me too, but from a different direction as Nicholas."

"Alright, but I'm assuming one of us may die?" Zach shouted back across the clearing.

"Yes, but that's if the gun demonstrates a new attack that could catch us all off guard."

"Now, the timing for this plan is crucial. One wrong move, and you might get a fine hole directly in your chest. When I shout "Now!" Nicholas will attack me, while Daliet fires at the gun. At this point, Zach will rush out and deal the finishing blow on me. Am I clear? You will have to trust me completely for this to work."

Demi's three companions nodded and went into position. "As for you, seeq." Demi turned towards him. "Shout "Hey!" as loud as you can when I shake my head. OK?"

"Got it."

The gun held steady, five barrels facing the seeq. There was the sound of shattering porcelain and a flash of light reflected off the moisture of the surrounding trees. The judge had appeared. His armoured head turned from side to side, assessing the battle situation. "Engagement begin!" he shouted.

Demi exhaled, then spoke, "Get ready."

The two paladins and the moogle gripped their weapons tightly. Nicholas' golden sword glowed with an increasing intensity. Zach's own glowed as well. Two orbs, one fire and the other ice, moved to orbit the barrel of Daliet's gun.

"Now!"

"Bang!" a deafening sound split the silence of the clearing. Nicholas with his sword leading, leapt forward. The light from his sword surrounded his armour as he charged. The gun swivelled around to face him, but did not fire.

At close range, the gun unleashed a torrent of fire, enveloping the figure of Nicholas completely. Fortunately, the flames died out as soon as they were formed as Demi's legs were forced to jump backwards, the gun moving backwards just enough to prevent Daliet's bullet from hitting it. Demi's head was already shaking.

The seeq bellowed out, "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyy!" and the gun which wanted to finish it's job on the paladin hesitated for a second, turning from side to side.

Demi smiled. The gun was confused. That moment was more than enough for Zach, whose sword impaled Demi right through. A whistle blew as Demi's vision was obliterated.

...

When Demi woke, the first thing he saw was Daliet looking down at him. He heard grunts and snorts not too far away from his position. He grabbed Daliet's whiskery face and pushed it to the side, out of his way. He looked down at his body, which was completely healed, and gasped in amazement.

The sound came from the seeq, who was struggling to escape. On top of him was Zach, who was trying with much difficulty to restrain him. After a few seconds of constant struggle, Zach managed to find an opening where he brought the hilt of his sword down on the seeq's head. The pigman went out like a light.

The younger paladin then turned to face Demi. "Oh Demi, you're awake! Nice planning, by the way."

"Heh, I wouldn't have expected anything less from myself. How long was I out?" Demi rubbed his head and got to his feet. "And what happened to the gun when I died?"

"You were out for a couple of minutes. As for the gun, it simply dissolved into black flame when you died. Funny though, the balls of lightning didn't disappear with the gun."

"So when did they leave?"

"As soon as you stirred."

"Strange." Demi's expression then turned from one of bewilderment into glee. "Haha! I think I'm starting to get this weapon of mine! Perfect!"

"Get?" Zach and Nicholas said at the same time. "What have you found out?"

"My power."


End file.
